Yacka to Bright

After another good night at The Star Hotel …..

Jazz and Blues night

The guy on the left started out with a trombone but then swapped it for a sax.

we packed up and headed off for Beechworth to see the Burke Museum. I was interested to see how the man was portrayed, was he a hero or an autocrat? The museum in fact is named after him but isn’t about him. It was full of interesting materials. …

Bird display

Old shop

Still a “Penny Farthing” bike?

Part of the Museum looked like a main street from the 1800s

Ned Kelly’s gun

Wheelbarrow used to carry a man from Beechworth to Mt Buffalo chalet as a bet. It took 8 days.

The wheelbarrow push route.

There is a collection of small buildings in the main street, the old Courthouse, the Chinese Protector’ s office, the Vault where Ned Kelly was kept, the Telegraph Station. The Courthouse was closed because of school excursions but we went in to see the Kelly vault and the Telegraph Office.

Ned’s vault

Old Telegraph Office where you can send a telegram … it will eventually be delivered by post.

The old and the new.

In the main street is also the Gold Bank:

Beautiful creation using agates etc

Crystals – supposed to influence your emotions

Lovely gemstone “Bonsai”

Gold Horseshoes -a politician decided to impress the town by having gold shoes made for his horse then he rode it through the town.

Sculpture outside the Gold Bank

Closeup of the sculpture

When we left Beechworth we drove on to Bright where we found a campsite, the Caravan Parks are busy but we took a site for a night then went to check out alternatives. We drove back 6 kms to Porepunka which was the first place to be established as a skiing area. We’ve booked a place there for a couple of nights.

Mt Buffalo in the background

River flowing through Porepunka

Back in Bright we went looking for a place to eat, the eateries were buzzing with people. There is a Vintage Car Rally in town and we saw busloads of people coming into the town so I guess we’re simply in a popular holiday spot. We had a nice meal in a hotel Bistro.

Magpie

King Parrot

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Women with a Middle-Eastern background have come into the Camp Kitchen to sing, belly dance and occasionally ululate around me, I’ve assured them I don’t mind and having me sitting here doesn’t seem to be impacting on their enjoyment one bit. The group of 45 is from Melbourne and this is their annual camping trip ……. they’re staying in nice cabins in the foothills of the Australian Alps. 🙂

I can’t believe I’ve managed to think with the full volume music hammering in my head so you’ll have to forgive any mistakes but it’s actually been lovely seeing the ladies enjoying themselves.